Greg Hinz On Politics

GOP smiling so far here, and a late AG Madigan memo

Here are a couple of guarded election predictions for smiling Republicans. And there's an interesting last-minute memo from Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan.

With turnout apparently healthy throughout the state — and with Republicans privately much more chipper than Democrats — I'm giving GOP gubernatorial hopeful Bill Brady and Senate nominee Mark Kirk a bit of an edge, as voting winds up.

It's still very close, with the outcomes quite possibly remaining uncertain into the wee hours. I don't see any candidate winning by more than a few percentage points.

But based on what I'm seeing and hearing so far, Democratic Senate nominee Alexi Giannoulias and Gov. Pat Quinn could have a long evening. We'll see.

Meanwhile, Ms. Madigan today sent a memo to election authorities reminding them that someone who has cast an absentee ballot can change their mind and cast an in-person ballot.

Ms. Madigan's spokeswoman was not immediately available for comment. But the memo reportedly was sparked by complaints in more than one county that such individuals were being allowed to cast only a "provisional" ballot, which isn't counted unless the voter jumps through a few other hoops.

* * * 7 p.m. update: CNN has the Senate race TIED, believe it or not, with both Mr. Kirk and Mr. Giannoulias at 47% each.

* * * 7:15 p.m. update. CNN has Quinn up over Brady, 47.5% to 45%, thanks to a big lead among women. Combined with the above, it looks like this is gonna be a long night -- assuming the exits are right.

BUT, Mr. Quinn so far is getting about 6% less in the city vis-a-is the Republican than Rod Blagojevich did four years ago.